The Daily Idea from Harvard Business Review

 

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November 12, 2013 There's Nothing Wrong with Service With a Smile Pret-a-Manager has caught the ire of cynical writers at The London Review of Books and The New Republic. Why? The fast-casual sandwich chain has adopted somewhat of an extreme service-with-a-smile philosophy. It's staff, for example, is required to create a Pret Buzz by emoting genuine feelings of happiness. And wide smiles are a must. Once critic has argued that the company's positive-energy training is an unfair form of emotional labor. This is elitist thinking. Service employees shouldn't have to go about their jobs with only a "grim sense of duty." SOURCE: Pret a Manger Wants Happy Employees — And That's OK by Bill Taylor

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